


To Be Home is Not Always Easy

by Veridissima



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bunker, F/M, The 100 (TV) Season 7, and so people know they're coming in and finding some flirting, but my faves are alive, for myself, kabbyoza is more hinted as a future possibility but I'm tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26514106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veridissima/pseuds/Veridissima
Summary: Being back in the bunker was not easy, Abby and Octavia have to face their demons again, luckily Charmaine Diyoza is there to help.
Relationships: Abby Griffin/Marcus Kane, Charmaine Diyoza & Abby Griffin, Charmaine Diyoza/Abby Griffin/Marcus Kane
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	To Be Home is Not Always Easy

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set between episode 13 and 14 from season 7 but set in an alternative universe where my faves did not die (also a little nod to Bellamy being alive because that made more sense than canon), but I wrote this before episode 14 aired, so some of these details are now wrong, but I couldn't really edit/rewrite everything...
> 
> Also credit to moonlight-shark on tumblr who pointed out a few weeks ago that a quick cutting off of Diyoza's hand could have saved her!! So thank you, and thank you for letting me run with it!!!
> 
> Enjoy this fic!!! It's a lot of Diyoza and Abby, and also having Abby and Octavia talk about the things they've done and I hope those conversations are good and work for you as a reader...
> 
> Can I just say happy bi week to all my fellow bi people as well!!! Diyoza has been very important to me as character I headcanon as bi, and giving me courage to be a little bit more out :) So my love to her and Abby, who I know are bi icons to quite a few people!!!! (Disclaimer: I know bi and polyam is not the same, and I worry all the time about this harmful stereotype... so while definitely being bi does not mean you're also in a polyamorous relationship - I like this for them a lot, with Marcus, and it makes a lot of sense for what I saw in them in s5 (and beyond and before)!!!)

Neither Abby or Charmaine knew what was happening as they were pulled from the hospital room.

“She has still not healed. She needs more time,” Abby argued with the disciples leading them somewhere.

“They’re taking us to the stone room,” Charmaine whispered, holding her arm close to her.

“Do you think we’re going home?”

“Not by my experience. They’re not giving up on us, and especially not on your daughter,” she told her, before a cough interrupted her.

“She’s still healing, she should not be out of bed,” Abby argued again, taking Charmaine’s weight on her.

The disciples kept ignoring her and just kept moving forward. Abby stopped wanting to make a point, but Charmaine asked her to keep moving.

“I need to see Hope, I need to see her.”

“Okay.” Abby straightened herself and started walking again, her arm around Charmaine’s waist.

“Thank you.”

Charmaine had been right. They were led into the stone room. The room was full, the disciples were taking off the restrains of the others, one by one.

“Mom!!” Hope yelled, trying to get out of line, before someone held her down. “Let me see my mom!!”

“Your mom is here, and she’s not going with you.”

“Why the hell not?” Charmaine asked, stepping forward from Abby’s support, as she shared a look with her own daughter on the other side of the room. Then she finally noticed Bellamy there as well – he was alive – but dressed in the white robes of the disciples.

“Clarke informed us you’re the leader of one of the factions in Sanctum – you could be useful.”

“I thought we were all going to Sanctum!!” Clarke argued.

“Hope’s father led most of the surviving members. Octavia led another faction. They should come with me,” Charmaine negotiated.

“I’m sure you and Clarke will make do,” Cadogan spoke again. “And I’m sure you wouldn’t want your daughter alone once again,” he said to Charmaine, before turning to Clarke. “Your friends will be safe. When I get the key, they will be free.”

“That’s not what we agreed.”

“You haven’t given me reasons to trust you, Clarke, or your friends. But I’ll free them if you fulfill your part of the deal and the last war begins, which point each of you will be welcome to fight alongside us. Or if you choose not to, well we’ll save you anyway, that’s what we mean when we say ‘for all mankind’.”

As he went on, Charmaine looked at Hope, who had been trying to fight the disciples holding her in place all this time.

“Miss Hope, as I said before ‘any violence will be met with lethal force’.”

“I’ll be okay, Hope, you’ll have Octavia with you.”

“Dr Griffin, if you could step in the line.”

“No!! You said my mom would be safe,” Clarke yelled.

“She will, like the rest of them, and your mother is to go safely with them.”

Nathan put the helmet then and stepped into the anomaly, followed by the others, who stepped in front of Hope, who was still looking at her mom.

“I am not. I’m a doctor and I’m not leaving my patient.”

“Ma’am, this is not up to discussion.”

“Neither am I, Bill.”

“Mom--”

“The person you’re counting on to hold the peace in Sanctum, with a group made of criminals who are not the best at listening, just lost her hand. She’s up from her bed too early and her arm is still healing – she probably will have an infection if I’m not with her,” Abby told him, now stepping forward next to Charmaine.

Charmaine couldn’t help by spare a look to Abby and smile, this was the same person who had stepped up to McCreary so long ago, but her eyes left her to see Octavia and Hope frozen in place.

“I’ll be okay.”

“You saved her life, Octavia,” Abby spoke – neither had said much to each other, and they had wounds to heal and figure out, but Abby knew this to be true. “She would have died if you hadn’t cut her arm. But now,” she continued turning to Bill Cadogan, “I need to make sure she continues alive and for that, I’m not leaving her side.”

“Okay, then you’ll both go with them then,” Cadogan gave in.

“We need Diyoza,” Clarke argued.

“We do not. Like she said they were part of the faction of her child’s father,” he continued. “I’m sure you and me, Clarke, can handle this.”

The disciples didn’t wait for more, pushing Abby and Charmaine forward to Octavia and Hope who were putting their helmets on, looking behind them, now waiting to confirm if they would follow.

“You can go on. Your mom will follow at the doctor’s request.”

“Where are you sending them?” Clarke repeated looking around them.

“Bellamy does not know. Only I know where they are.”

“Why am I staying back then? I’m guessing, since nobody has yet taken my restrains.”

“Very smart, Miss Raven. According to Octavia’s memories, you’ve figured every problem you’ve had to solve.”

“Jordan was the one who read the code right.”

“We need you, not Jordan,” he said. “Now Doctor and Colonel if you would do the favor of walking through the anomaly.”

“No!!” Abby argued again, and Cadogan was about to answer. “I understand I’m going through, but not yet,” Abby spoke.

“Mom…”

“Clarke,” she said nodding at her daughter, before continuing. “I’m not letting Char-- Diyoza travel without a sling for her arm. Your people made her leave too fast, before she could be given one – ohhh, you also left her tied to the bed the entire time.”

“She bit a man off and pulled his eye out, Dr Griffin. She was a high-risk patient.”

“Not after training with you. She became one of your best.”

“I’m not here to argue on the merits of Colonel Diyoza. Now if someone could find something for Dr Griffin to help her patient.”

“A strip of the robes should do,” Clarke spoke, looking at Bellamy, but he remained unmoved. Gabriel ripped part of his robes instead, and offered them to Abby, who knotted them together to make a sling for her arm.

“This is better.”

“Good, now it’s time to go,” Cadogan said, as the disciples moved forward with the helmets, but Clarke took one, making sure it was fitted into Abby well.

“The helmet needs to be firmly put, so you don’t lose your memory.”

“I know.”

“I’ll do this and come back for you, Mom.”

“I believe you, Clarke,” she said taking her daughter’s hand. “You’ll do what’s best. Please tell--”

“Kane that you’re okay. I know, Mom. I’m sorry you can’t…”

“It is what it is.”

Abby with the helmet already on couldn’t kiss her daughter, but they held their heads together, until Cadogan couldn’t wait anymore, having the disciples taken them over to the anomaly, and with that they walked through it, as they felt it close behind them.

Abby and Charmaine were not sure where they were going to land, and even when they did, and took off their helmets, it was unknown, at least for a few moments.

“Mom,” Hope yelled, running to her.

“I’m okay,” Charmaine said, hugging her back.

“Your hand?” Octavia coming closer, resting a hand on her shoulder and her head on Hope’s.

“Abby is looking after it. Don’t worry.

“Where are we?” Jordan finally asked, breaking the moment.

There was something familiar about the place. Familiar but strange, Abby walked closer the wall and the moment, she did, she knew what it reminded her of – her eyes found Octavia who had realized the same thing.

“The bunker. We’re back in the bunker,” she said, and the memories she spent ten years fighting against, healing from, came back.

“I’ve never seen this room before,” Niylah spoke, looking between Abby and Octavia.

“Neither have we,” Abby said sharing a look with Octavia.

“The door is through there,” Echo noticed, walking ahead with Jordan, who didn’t have any memories of this place.

As they followed, nothing looked familiar to the four people who had lived here for six years, the corridor led to another door, as they pushed it open, they found a bookshelf leading to what they had thought to be Cadogan’s office.

“This was behind us the whole time. We could have left the entire time,” Octavia whispered.

“We wouldn’t have been able to use the stone. We wouldn’t know the codes.”

The room still looked as they had left it, the broken mirror on the floor as Octavia stepped closer to it, before turning her back and leaving the room, with Niylah and Echo following her, before everybody else did the same, and more sounds were also heard.

They faced the ring then, memories present to most of them and then a figure was clear in the middle of the place, breathing and moving around.

“Gaia. It’s Gaia,” Nathan said.

“I thought she had gone back to Sanctum.”

Gaia looked up at the conversation, and finally saw them.

“You’re here.”

“What happened?”

“Someone came to close the stone, we came through and ended up here, supposedly we always end up on our planet of origin if one is not set.”

“The door?” Octavia asked.

“It’s locked. And someone closed the hole in the sky,” she told them, looking up to the same place Charmaine had broken through for what felt a little bit over a month for most of them. “Maybe we could leave or open it if we got close enough.”

“There’s no way in or out,” Octavia answered – she knew what she had done. She hadn’t wanted anyone to think the bunker was option before going into war.

“And food?” Abby asked, nervously.

“I found some food to hold me off, and was able to get the farm running again.”

“How?”

“Monty had left things I was able to recreate.”

“Good. We’ll make do until Clarke comes back with the others.”

“Wait, what happened? How are you here?”

“Clarke made a deal with Cadogan.”

“Cadogan as in…” she asked, pointing to everything around them.

“Yes, it’s complicated,” Niylah admitted.

“I’ll explain,” Echo told her as they moved away from the fighting pits, everyone following behind, except Abby and Octavia.

“I need to check your arm again, Charm,” Abby reminded her as Octavia ran off.

“Octavia!!”

“Auntie O!!”

“Charm, I really need to get you into some antibiotics again.”

“I need to check on Octavia.”

“I’ll go,” Niylah told them, walking up the ramp, as Charmaine told Hope to go with Echo.

“Figure out where we’re sleeping.”

“You need to stay in med bay, Charm.”

“It’s just us in here. You can move whatever I need to some room.”

“Niylah would help,” Nathan reminded her, before they walked away.

Abby walked Charmaine to the medbay, and everything was exactly as Abby had left it. The empty space in the med cabinet was there, and she couldn’t look at it – to think of how Marcus had almost died for that.

“Abby, are you okay? I know--”

“Let’s look at your arm again.”

People at Bardo hadn’t let Abby do much, she had looked on and heard about what they had been doing. She had held onto Charmaine’s hand as she asked her to protect Hope and told her what she could about Skyring, and Abby had promised her that she would keep her alive, and she was gonna keep the promise.

Now, she undressed the wound, and cleaned everything again.

“This burns more than whatever they used.”

“Different products, but I have to.”

“I know.” Abby continued the cleaning, disinfecting the wound, feeling it around and changing the bandages, as they talked.

“How are you feeling?”

“I have to live with this.”

“Charm, I’m here to talk.”

“Never been good at that. I’ll handle it, I stopped Hope from killing all those people – you can’t do that lightly. Even with a good reason, sometimes guilt gets to you.”

“Just be careful. Amputation is never easy.”

“I’ve seen it before. When can I start training? I need to relearn to fight with only one hand, and I need to train before this whatever war starts.”

“Clarke is gonna stop that.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“She will.”

Charmaine shrugged her shoulders at that, and finished looking at what Abby was doing, almost done with the bandages and fitting her back into a sling, this time a real one.

“Okay, I need to change them every few hours. I’ll come find you. You need rest now, a lot of it – so no training for now. And take this,” Abby told her, coming back from the medicine cabinet, giving her a pill bottle. “Every eight hours. If that is not helping with the pain, if it’s not enough, you tell me and we rework something. But try this a couple of days.”

Charmaine nodded at that.

“Is that all?” Abby nodded back.

“I imagine Gaia took them to the main quarter section. Turn left here, just keep walking, then go down when you can, and you’ll probably hear them, if they’re silent, look around, I’m not sure where they are.”

“Thank you,” she said, standing up with the help of her good hand, before walking out, stopping at the door. “I like Charm by the way,” she gave in with a wink.

“I know. You told me about the name in Bardo. I liked it too.”

Charmaine smiled at that and walked out, leaving Abby on her own in medbay, and all the memories came back – she remembered spending time here, healing people after “conclaves” – bruise after cut after bruise, blood more blood. But Abby shook her head and walked out immediately, Charmaine was already gone, but she followed the same way, hearing the noise as she got closer to the rooms, but she went the way.

She stopped in front of their room, the door was still open from the last time she had ran in to get her bag, that had saved her life, when Clarke had gotten into the bunker to take her back to the ground. Here she was underground again, waiting for her daughter to come, again, but this time Marcus wasn’t with her.

It couldn’t be true, her brain knew that – it had been too long – but her nose smelt Marcus – the smell of books and paper, sweat and always some dirt. Their bed was still perfectly made – that had been something he could control – completely unknow that it would be the last night to be slept on, as Marcus was arrested in the middle of the day, and not long after, Indra took her away.

It was a good room. Individual. It was smaller than the one she had shared with Jake on the Ark, or Marcus’ room in Alpha, but he had told her the room he had shared with his mom, after his dad died, had been similar. One bed, a desk and chair, and a small toilet and a sink – there was no longer a mirror there by the time they took this room. It was small, but theirs, which had been better than most had been able to say.

Abby sat on the bed, her side, the other was Marcus’ always, and laid back down, turning to her side, feeling his pillow under her hand, and under it she found his last book. It was the same for the last two years and seven months in here, that was when Octavia permanently forbid him to go into the main office again – he had been going through the books since they got here, all of them from the same shelf that had opened up to the secret corridor – she wondered how Marcus had missed it.

The book that had stayed was a book of poetry – a compilation of poems from different writers, he would read one a night, even the ones he wasn’t a fan of after a time. He used to sometimes complain this was the last one he got – Moby Dick _was much bigger_ , he used to say, and he had also really enjoyed that one much more.

Abby opened his book, looking at the index, tracing her fingers through his favorite poems, before picking the longest one. Abby had liked it more than Marcus had, but it was not a favorite of either of them, but it was the one he read when his head was too full of thoughts.

The poem did what Marcus always promised. It emptied her mind, the words were not simple, so she focused on those until her eyes started to drop and she fell asleep.

Abby didn’t sleep long, a few hours and she woke up, with nightmares and a dry mouth, the feeling and taste of a dry pill down her throat. Abby stood up and cleared her face with water, before picking up a discarded glass and filling it with water.

“Clarke and Marcus coming,” she whispered to herself. “This is not the bunker again.” And then she laughed. “Actually is the bunker.”

Abby tried to sleep again after that, there was still noise outside she noticed opening the door, and she didn’t want to go there, so she laid on the bed again, this time under the covers, picking the poem where she had left off.

The poem worked again, and she fell asleep, but the nightmares still came, more gruesome this time. It was like she was outsider on her life at first, she looked into her eyes – foggy and not there – in this bed, how often had she been high in here, not hearing a word of Marcus – and then it got worse it turned to dead eyes – murdered eyes – murdered body that someone needed to make into food.

Her heart was so fast, and so was the breathing when she woke up. She pulled the covers off, needing to be up. She washed her face, but it did nothing, and she needed to get out.

The halls were quiet, but Abby still needed out, out this bunker. She couldn’t be here. She needed another solution. The door was still locked, and the sky opening close, but there had to be more, Cadogan is Cadogan – he would have a plan B.

If there was one, it would be in his office.

Her room was one of the closest to the office and she got there quickly – the bookshelf door still open – and then she was at the door of this other office.

The office wasn’t empty.

“I thought it would be empty,” she said when Octavia looked behind her, and saw her at the door. “I thought maybe there was a way to leave.”

“Four eyes are better than two.”

They got working. Octavia had been checking the walls, which Abby sat on the couch to look at the papers.

“I hate this place, you know,” Octavia spoke.

“We didn’t know about this room.”

“You know I don’t mean this room. I’ll carry what happened here forever.”

“So will I.”

“I was mad, I was so mad at everyone,” Octavia said sitting. “Like Blodreina and her choices were someone else’s fault.”

“They weren’t just your choices, Octavia.”

“They were at the end. I burned the farm.”

“You did. You took away the option for peace.”

“That wasn’t peace in my mind, that was losing. After what we did, losing wasn’t an option, abdicating of having it all wasn’t an option. We suffered too much to not have the best, for me to not be able to give everyone the best.”

“Why do you think it should have been now.”

“How much did Diyoza tell you? We spent a lot of time there, we talked, we’re both guilty of things we thought were right.”

“We all are.”

“I felt abandoned by Kane and Indra in here.”

“You pushed them away.”

“They should have pushed back harder, I was young,” she said. “You wouldn’t have given up on Clarke. Diyoza never gave up on me.”

“They didn’t know what to do. But you’re right, I wouldn’t have given up Clarke, and we shouldn’t have given up on you, but I wasn’t here most of the time. Being a doctor was the only thing I could do.”

“The pills were your Blodreina. Your opportunity to hide.”

Octavia stopped then, and turned to look and investigate another wall, finding things she could expertly touch.

“You were the one who told me to punish them,” she whispered. “I have to say that.”

“I did. I’m sorry,” Abby accepted. “I shouldn’t have told you that. Not that early, there was time for people to change their mind.”

“But not Kane. You knew he wouldn’t.”

“I knew he wouldn’t by himself,” Abby whispered. “I needed to save him, I couldn’t survive without him,” she admitted, before continuing. “But I didn’t tell you to kill anyone, Octavia. I didn’t mean for that to be the outcome… I didn’t imagine that.”

Octavia was quiet after that again, but she didn’t argue, she didn’t yell. The Octavia she had known before had wanted to run from any blame, but she now knew what she had done and could live with it, that was something she still needed to learn to live with.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I think we’re past asking for permission for hard conversations.”

“How do you live with what you’ve done? I kept seeing the bodies tonight, the people we-- I know why we did it, but…”

“I’m awake too, Abby, so not the best to ask. But first I wasn’t alone. I went to Hope and Diyoza’s room and stayed with them – they love me no matter what I’ve done. You told me years ago that Kane knew what you had done, and he loved you, that makes the difference,” she admitted, and Abby thought back to how she had fought so hard to save him. “Also I’ve had ten years. For you, Abby, it’s probably not even been two months since you left this hellhole.”

Abby nodded at that. She knew she needed time.

“What do I do now then? Marcus is not here, I have no chance but to stay alone.”

“Stay with us.”

A voice sounded from the door.

“I brought you some food.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Not too long. Everyone is up and about, Gaia got us some food.”

“What time is it?” Abby asked, standing up.

“A bit after 8 am, there was this wide alarm around the bunker.”

“How did you know I was here?” Octavia asked.

“You both want out of here more than anyone, this obviously could be a chance. Cadogan did not leave things up to chance,” she said. “I’ll help you look after you eat something.”

“I need to clean your wound, I should have done that before. And you shouldn’t be up, Charm.”

“Couch. Couch. I’m sitting down,” she said, finally coming in, and Octavia and Abby joined her to eat.

They ate in silence, Abby and Octavia still thinking about what they had talked about, what this place was to them. And with the meal finished, Octavia went back to work, while Abby checked and disinfected Charmaine’s wound.

“Were you serious about me staying with you?” she asked as she disinfected the wound.

“She is,” Octavia answered instead. “And I don’t mind either.”

“O…”

“She had a crush on you,” Octavia told her. “On Kane too by the way.”

“O!!”

“Is that right?” Abby asked with a laugh and a smirk.

“You’re hot, Doc, in case you didn’t know.”

“You didn’t meet me at my best.”

“I didn’t. But you had courage and bravery, and you made Kane think you were the only women in the world. The way he looked at you. I wanted someone to look at me like that, and then I was looking at you like that.”

“You really spilled all the mushy stuff,” Octavia said with a barf sound, and Abby couldn’t help but smile. She sounded young and laughing like Abby hadn’t seen her in so long, probably not since Lincoln had been gone, probably even before that.

“Get back to work, O.”

“The stories I could tell.”

“I want to hear them all. About Hope too. It’s strange she’s an adult, last time I saw you, I had left you pregnant – I had just listened to her heartbeat. I really thought I would be there for her to grow up, and so did Marcus.”

“I had expected to see her grow too. You’re not the only one getting to learn that she’s an adult.”

“She was just a kid when we left her,” Octavia said. “You mentioned Kane, is he…”

“Alive? Yes. I got him back.”

“I really… I really didn’t mean… mean for that to happen. I was angry, and angry at him for abandoning me, but I didn’t want him to die.”

“He will understand that. He has always loved you.”

“I told her that.”

“How Diyoza thought he loved me after I tried to kill him, and he decided I couldn’t be saved is beyond me.”

“He never wanted you to die. He felt he was running out of options.”

“I’ll get to talk to him.”

“He will come with Clarke, she will bring him home,” Abby said, finishing up Charmaine’s bandage. “You’re all done. Marcus will want to talk to you as well. He may need you actually, he’s not the happiest with me.”

“Abby, he loves you.”

“I know that, he does to. But saving him wasn’t easy.”

“He will understand,” Octavia told her. “He saved you too,” she reminded her. “But if you could start helping me, we could get through this office much quicker.”

For the rest of the morning, Abby joined Octavia looking through the walls, while giving the papers to Charmaine. They covered maybe half of the available things, before Charmaine insisted they were done for the day, that they needed rest and new eyes to look at things tomorrow, and that they would do better just joining the others for lunch.

Lunch was not in the cafeteria. It seemed Gaia, Niylah and Nathan had agreed that wasn’t the place to be, so they ate in the large dorms Echo, Niylah and Gaia had taken for themselves, a few doors from Charmaine, Hope and Octavia’s.

Abby relaxed in conversation with the others. Nobody wanted to focus on the bunker, so the topics changed from Hope and Jordan’s upbringing, to everyone else’s, and then at night after dinner – they went more seriously about their theories of was this last war.

But as it was late and the alarm for bedtime rang, they got ready for bed. Abby knowing she needed to change Charmaine’s bandages again.

“We can change it in your old room. I would like to see it.”

Abby didn’t argue with the offer.

“It was just ours.”

“How many had private rooms?”

“Not many, at least not in the start,” Abby answered, opening the door. “Then people started dying, and there were actually empty rooms.”

“It’s small, but a good room,” she entered and started to look around without much shame, picking up the book in the bed immediately.

“It was-- It is Marcus’.”

“Of course, he likes poetry.”

“Actually, not his favorite, just the one he got to keep.”

“There were many in the outer office.”

“Octavia…”

Charmaine got the meaning, before taking a seat on Abby’s side, so she could once again clean and bandage the arm.

It was too soon for it to look great, but so far no sign of infection which was good.

“How long will you keep this up?”

“It will be months, more than a year before you’re fully healed.”

“Abby...”

“But few weeks and the wound will be healed on the outside. I just need to get you these few days infection free.”

Abby looked after the healing, Charmaine checked the book with her other hand and started reading one of the poems, until Abby had finished.

“We’re ready to go,” Abby told her.

“Any extra clothes? Octavia doesn’t want hers, Niylah and Gaia gave us some, but I’m definitely not the same size as them.”

“I have some of Marcus’ sweaters.”

“While not the sexiest, they looked comfy.”

“He looked sexy still in those.”

“Not gonna argue on that,” Charmaine said with an eyebrow wiggle, and Abby smiled back at her, getting the clothes, and Charmaine picked up the book, before they went back to the bedroom they were staying at.

The lights were off. Octavia and Hope already asleep, and Charmaine moved to take the bottom bunk, under Hope, as Abby went to the other side of the room and changed into her underwear before getting into bed.

Abby fell asleep easier than the night before, listening to the breathing of the others in the room and letting her own breathing fall to a rhythm with them. And the nightmares stayed way for longer, she dreamed of the stories from Skyring, she dreamed of Charmaine there with Hope, she dreamed of herself helping the birth, and her and Marcus holding baby Hope.

But the happy dreams had to end at some point. Octavia brought Blodreina, and the blood and the pills, and everything was horrifying and she woke up with a scream.

Her breathing was rash as she woke up, scared as she couldn’t figure out where she was, the dark lights not letting her see anything beyond her own body.

“Marcus… Marcus…” she called, quietly, before starting to get louder again.

“Abby,” a voice sounded – it was not him – but it was getting closer. “Abby, it’s okay,” the voice said, sitting next to her.

“Marcus?”

“It’s me, Diyoza, Charm, Abby. Can I get in?”

Abby gave her some space, so Diyoza climbed in bed with her, holding her close as she dissolved into tears, crying herself back to sleep, knowing she was safe.

Nightmares did not come then. Abby slept okay, she didn’t know what her dreams had been, but she had only known to be safe. She woke up after a full night of sleep, her head resting on Charmaine’s chest and her arms around her back. Part of Abby was embarrassed that she had need physical touch to be able to sleep, but most of her was just relieved that she had been here for her, in this small bed.

Abby rolled to her back, to find the lights of the room half lighted, signaling that the alarm would go off soon. Both Diyozas were still asleep, but Octavia was already gone – Abby knew where and knew she had to join her, so she climbed out of the bed, pulled the covers over Charmaine, before getting her clothes on leaving the room back to the old office.

She didn’t greet Octavia as she came in, only got back to work – there was still a lot to go through – and they worked in silence until they broke for breakfast when Charmaine came in, now wearing one of Marcus t-shirts – it was big on her but she looked good.

“So bringing food to your girlfriend?”

“Jealous, O?” Charmaine answered immediately with a laugh, and Abby ignored their back and forward as she started to eat. Abby didn’t mind the jokes, but she wasn’t meaning to get involved, and it was interesting to just watch them – they, at the same time, reminded her of her relationship with Clarke and what she used to have with Callie, either way they were family.

“You were quiet,” Charmaine whispered to her when they all went back to work. “I hope I didn’t push any boundaries.”

“You did not, also you need to sit back on the couch, I don’t want you tiring yourself out. And sleeping next to you was great,” Abby admitted with a laugh, before getting serious again. “But you do know that nothing can’t happen before Marcus gets back.”

“Fuck, Abby, I really didn’t mean-- Octavia was joking,” she said, before realizing something else. “You think we could.”

“Marcus likes you. He doesn’t like many people, at least not romantically or sexually – I could see he liked you,” Abby told her. “Also he may need you. Need someone who’s not me.”

“What happened, Abby?”

“You will see when he comes back. I did everything to save him.”

“Diyoza!!! Diyoza!!!” Octavia yelled from the other side of the room. “I found a map, get here.”

“Bring it to the table,” Charmaine ordered getting up to the table, as Abby got up and followed.

Abby observed as Charmaine read through everything, trying to find another way out.

“The Farm. Is there a door there?”

“Multiple,” Octavia answered. “But I was never there much.”

“There’s the way out.”

“How do you know this is right?”

“Cadogan would make a plan b.”

“We should go see it,” Octavia said, standing up.

“We need to get everyone else.”

They moved after that, reuniting everyone in the bunker, most of them training in the pit, Charmaine’s eyes finding her daughter and Jordan in the corner talking, wondering if there was something there – that wasn’t a question for now – as they all quickly got all their things and went down to the farm.

Charmaine looked to where the door should be, once again hidden behind a shelf, that with a strong push from Nathan and Echo, it opened and they were faced with a bunch of stairs.

“The top…”

The walk was tiring and impossibly long, but they got up – realizing midway through about the possibility that this door could also be locked and this could be all for nothing.

“We can’t lose hope,” Abby reminded them, and Hope’s eyes blew open, catching her name and her mom’s eyes.

“I told you Kane named you, and Abby is his hope,” Charmaine said, noticing the look.

“We’re here.” Echo and Jordan were the first at the top, and they turned the wheel together – fully – and then pushing it open – it stuck.

“Help me push.”

They did and the door gave in, opening to the green forest around them.

“It’s beautiful.” And in that moment Abby wanted nothing more than Marcus’ hand – he would love this, this would be his dream – this would be home.

“Octavia,” Nathan spoke. “Do you have anything better to say?” They both laughed, and she walked up, to the front, her foot on the grass as she yelled.

“We’re back, bitches!!”

Nathan laughed again and followed her out.

“That’s what Octavia said when they first landed on Earth,” Jordan told them all. “Mom and Dad told me about it. Bellamy wanted her to be the first to touch the ground.”

“And I was,” she said, turning back to the rest of them. “Now Hope, it’s your turn, your first time on Earth.”

“Jordan too,” Echo spoke. “Go on.”

“My third time here, could you guess?” she whispered to Abby, before stepping up to Hope, taking her hand, and smiling as her daughter first experienced the place she had only heard stories about.

Abby was the last to step out, breathing in the fresh air, and looking around, for more, to try and figure out where they were.

“Kane will be here soon. Clarke will make sure,” Niylah spoke, close to her, as everyone else

“I hope so. He will like this.”

“He will.”

“And he will forgive you.”

“There will be a time he can’t forgive me anymore.”

“Not with you two.”

“We should go to Arkadia,” Jordan spoke excited, taking all of their attention.

“No, Clarke is coming here. We need to wait for her,” Echo corrected him. “No trips to Trikru territory either, Gaia, that will have to wait.”

“So what now?” Hope asked.

“We should check the other bunker entrances,” Octavia informed them, “If we build another small ladder and free up the top entrance, people can get in and out more easily. If someone wants to get back in.”

Both Octavia and Abby knew they weren’t going back in there if they didn’t need to, but the beds were probably more comfortable to sleep on than the floor.

“Where are we?” Hope asked.

“Still Polis, we just need to walk closer to the tower.”

“What’s that?” Hope asked looking at her mom.

“Probably an old office building.”

“It was the Commander’s tower,” Gaia answered. “They ruled from the top of the tower.”

“Is that the tower where Clarke fought ALIE in the City of Light?” Hope had heard the stories then as Octavia nodded and kept telling her more about it as they moved in the direction of the tower.

“I also first slept with Marcus on the top of that tower,” she whispered to Charmaine.

“You’re now torturing me.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, both knowing she wasn’t even a little bit sorry.

The walk to the other entrances to the bunker was fast, and they found the roof hole, it was mostly covered with fallen trees and leaves, so it wouldn’t be easy to clean up. Abby helped with that, while others looked for branches to build a new ladder, and Charmaine was forced to rest. It took long to find everything and the night fell, and the conversation was made about who stayed outside.

Abby and Octavia knew it, none were going back in there. Nathan agreed, but Gaia and Niylah could handle the ghosts down there. Hope decided to go under with Echo and Jordan as well, and Charmaine stayed to keep company to the others.

Camp was small and just outside the half cleaned up entrance. Nathan to Octavia’s right as always, Charmaine on her left, and then finally Abby. It was cold outside, especially at night, the nightmares less, but for either one of those reasons, their bodies still pulled them towards each other, Abby’s head next to her shoulder, while holding Charmaine’s bad arm over her own body, so she could sleep comfortably and without putting herself at a bigger risk of infection.

The sun woke them up in the morning, and a bit over an hour later the siren was heard from the bunker. Work went slower on this second day, all knowing it would be easier to get it done before sundown, and they were.

The ladder was sturdy and Gaia went back into the bunker, so she could get everything ready, so they could get back into the bunker, and with her gone they finished cleaning up the entrance and dropped the ladder down and then it was just waiting.

Not that long after, Gaia was done, and she started to come up, with other voices were clear behind her.

“Clarke!!” Abby reacted standing up, all stepping closer to the exit, as everyone left the bunker people ran to hug each other, but she waited, scared that Marcus wasn’t with them – that somehow he had stayed back in Sanctum, that he hadn’t wanted to come back to her, but there he was, the last one out again.

Abby’s breathing stopped for a moment, noticing all the familiar lines on his face. She walked slowly up to him, reaching her hand out to his face, to his cheek, feeling the beard under her hand.

“Your beard? Your eyes?”

“Jackson found a way. Something the Children of Gabriel knew about.”

“You’re back in your body,” she whispered, reaching her hand out behind his neck, feeling the scar of the chip.

“He put the chip back in.”

“I’m glad you’re back. I would love you always.”

“I know, Abby, I shouldn’t have been mad. I would have done the same for you…”

“I know why you were mad… and you needed time.”

“I missed you.” And with that he closed the space between them, his lips finding hers – the relief of a long waited kiss, his hands pulling her close and her fingers holding onto the long strands of hair, as they needed air again, they pulled away, resting their foreheads on one another with promises of love, before they stepped back.

Abby observed as Marcus took care to look at everyone and then she saw him stop, and the air dropped from his chest, she knew who he was looking at, he stepped back from her, holding her hand for a squeeze, before walking forward.

“Diyoza,” he made his way to her in three quick steps, interrupting her conversation with Gabriel, and it was the first time he saw her entire body – the bely gone and her right arm now with her hand amputated – his hand reached out instinctively, and she took it with her own good hand.

“I’m good, Kane. There’s a lot to tell you but I’m good.”

“Your hand?”

“Hazards of saving lives, and being alive.”

“You’re okay?”

“I am,” she said, and he moved his arms around her. “I’m glad you’re alive too,” she whispered to his neck. “I’m sorry I put you at risk.”

“I will be okay,” he promised. “But Hope…”

“There’s a lot to tell you like I said, but she’s here, alive, a bit more grown than you expected.” Charmaine took his hand now, sharing a look with Abby, who smiled at her, over Clarke’s shoulder, as she held her in a hug – somehow it felt too long for both of them since they had last hugged one another.

“Hope,” she called. “Meet Kane, he’s the one who named you.”

“Octavia told me a lot about you.” His heart stopped at that, he had wanted to know this child to hold her – she was now an adult still – but he didn’t want Octavia’s anger to pain this relationship. “She looked up to you. She missed you.”

“Octavia was with us,” Charmaine said, as Hope disappeared again. “Ten years Octavia and I raised Hope.”

“She’s older than ten…”

“Our time with her was stolen. It’s too long of a story for now, but she’s 25.”

“I’m sorry, Diyoza.”

“Those ten years with Hope and Octavia were good.”

“You need to talk to Octavia,” Abby told him, getting to him, and he opened his arm for Abby to fit with him, she rested her head on his chest, as he looked on at Octavia.

Then a question was repeated.

“Where’s Bellamy?”

All eyes were on Clarke then as she talked, and admitted to shooting him. In the hand, she said, it was the only way for him to not get Madi’s drawings back to Cadogan.

“Where’s the book then?” Indra asked.

“I couldn’t get it. It’s back in Cadogan’s hands.”

“And the book--”

“It may have the answer to how to start the war.”

“I’m sorry,” Madi whispered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Clarke said, turning to her. “It’s not, and we’ll solve this like everything else.”

“What about Bellamy?” Echo asked again.

“They will handle him. It was a simple shot. They helped with Diyoza’s below the elbow amputation, I’m sure they can handle his hand being shot.”

“And then after?” Octavia asked. “I want my brother back.”

“We’ve gotten Bellamy out of bigger messes before,” John said, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s not this old guy who’s gonna get him.”

The consensus was general after that. Bellamy was the priority. To stop whatever was Bill Cadogan’s plan and get Bellamy Blake back, everything else would have to wait.

“I guess Arkadia will have to wait,” Marcus whispered to her, Abby had known their home would have been in his mind.

“After. Hopefully something is standing and we can built in again.”

“For all of us. We need to go back for the rest of Wonkru, and Diyoza’s people.”

“We will,” she said. “We’re gonna figure out a way.”

“Now we plan.”

“Yeah, and after that I have some gossip to tell you about Charmaine,” she told him with a mischievous smile, as everyone build their camp and lighted the fire, because there was a lot of planning and work to do before dinner time.


End file.
